Overnight? Champions For Charity Scores Golf's Largest Cable Rating...Ever
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John Ourand reports that second most important number from The Match: Champions for Charity: 5.8 million average viewers, making it the most watched golf broadcast in cable history. (The $20 million raised the most important number.)
While still an overnight, it easily bests the previous week’s relief fund match that drew a 1.5 and total of 2.3 million viewers across three channels, including a 1.5 rating on NBC and a .24 on Golf Channel).
More incredibly, this means The Match 2 out-rated any major championship round on cable.
Given a so-so promotional run-up, a slow start to the show (caused in part by a slight weather delay) a dreary day to watch, and a long telecast, the rating is a stunning statement about the remaining star power of the contestants.
Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch.com also added several thoughts, including this on the staggering numbers.
Since the majority of sporting events were called off on March 11-12, it ranks at best seventh among sportscasts — behind the first two nights of the NFL Draft, at least three episodes of the ESPN docuseries “The Last Dance” and the previous weekend’s NASCAR race at Darlington (6.32M).
Viewership more-than-doubled the previous weekend’s “Driving Relief” charity event on the NBC family of networks, which saw Rory McIlroy compete against Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff (2.35M).
“The Match” ranks as easily the most-watched golf telecast on any network this year, with the caveat that the season’s first two majors — the Masters and PGA Championship — were postponed. Notably, it averaged more viewers than the final rounds of last year’s PGA Championship (5.0M) and British Open (3.7M).
Remember, The Match did not benefit from the reach of a broadcast network in garnering that rating.
